Alfbed dickinson



(No Model.) A A. DICKINSON.

WHBELED CARRIAGE.

N0.352,3o6. I Patented N0v.9,1886.

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

ALFREDi'fDIoKINsoN, or DARLAsToN, COUNTY on STAFFORD, ENGLAND.

WHEELED CARRIAGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 352,306, dated November 9, 1886. Application filed August 3, 1886. Serial No. 209,929. (No model.) Patented in England May 20, 1885, No. 6,164.

To all whom t may concern:

| ings showing acarriage which' Ihave built ac- Beit known that I, ALFRED DICKINsoN, of cor-ding to my invention, and by the help of Darlaston, in thetcounty. of Stafford, England, locomotive superintendent, and a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wheeled Carriages for UseAlternatively upon Railways 1 or Roadways, .(for)which I have obtained Letters Patent inGreat Britain, N o. 6, 164, May 20, 1885;) and I do hereby declare that the following'is a sufiicient description of the invention to enable those skilled in. the art to which it appertains to carry the same into practical effect.

My invention has for its object improvements in wheeled carriages for use alternately upon railways and roadways-t'. e., carriages which combine in one facility for 'running upon both ordinary roads and also upon rails, and which may at a very short notice and` without the help of skilled labor or special preparations be so iitted as to be almost equally adapted for either of the above-named conditions as if specially built for either. It is of course quite impossible to fulfill both conditions in one carriage as completely as would be the case in two separate carriages; but my invention does -meet both `the conditions of ordinary road and rails in a very thorough manner, so that a vehicle running upon the rails may in, say, two or three minutes be transformed into a vehicle for a common road, and this is done by the attendant himself without any special help, which is a most im portant matter.

A carriage built according to my invention has two sets of wheels, one set being plain wheels for use upon common roads and the other set being flanged wheels for use upon 4o railways, which also includes tramways. The flanged Wheels and the axles thereof form adjuncts to the axles of the common road-wheels, and by an arrangement of lever and screw the iianged wheels may at willbe lowered and the common road-wheels raised, making the vehicle suited for railway or tramway work, or in the alternative the anged wheels may be raised and the road-wheels lowered for common road-work.

5o In order that my invention may be clearly understood and more easily carried into practice,l have appended hereunto asheet of draw- -turn freely. There may also be used a lockwhich Ishall better'ascertain the nature there- 55 of and in what manner it may be performed,

'and from which practical men will be able to adapt the invention to yother vehicles and other varying conditions which may in practice he met with.

Figure, lis a side elevation of a carriage,v showing the common road-wheels A and A' supporting the carriage upon a paved road and the supplemental or rail `wheels B and B'raised off the rails. Fig. 2 is a partly-inverted plan of the-same carriage, showing the wheels'A,A', A2, and A3 down on the common paved road and the rail-wheels B, B', B2, and B3 lifted up. Fig. 3 is an end elevation showing the axlesv yand parts of gear more clearly.

The drawings illustrate a carriage in a partly converted condition-i. e., the railwheels B, B', B2, and B3 have just been lifted offv the rails C by means of the winding-handle D, which revolves the shaft E and turns the worm H, which works in the Worm-wheel M, thus operating the lever K, which turns upon a center, L, upon the plate M, which is firmly attached to the under frame of the vehicle. To the lever K are attached the rods 8c N and I?, which operate the levers upon the shafts R and S, so as to turn them round sufciently to lift the rail-wheel shafts T and U throughthe levers u' and u2 and t and t2, these levers being either welded, keyed, or otherwise fastened tothe shafts R and S, the other ends of the levers carrying suitable bearings in which the rail-shafts T and U revolve. These levers are broughtinto a vertical position when the rail-wheels B are used. N ow, when the conversion of the vehicle from rail to road is complete, the lever N is lifted out of the hook K'and hangs loosely upon the chain N', which permits the front carriage or bogie to ing-pin to secure the bogie when the vehicle is used for rails; but when used for common roads and the lever-rod N hangs loosely a locking-pin is used to secure the front wheels, B and B', and their shaft U in the suspended position.

I may manipulate the lever K by means of bevel-wheels F and F', the rod O, with the worm Q at the end, acting on the toothed wheel Q', which is HXedto the end of the shaftY to one end ofthe lever E, in which a horizontal screw operated by the handle D would work, and thereby cause the plate M to revolve and act upon the rods N and P, but in this case the handle D -would be near the end of the wagon. 4

It will of course be understood that the wheels A run loose upon the shafts R and S, and these shafts are only capableof turning suliciently to bring the wheels B into andout of work. The shafts U and 'Iv are, however, fast to the wheels B, and run with them in the bearings before mentioned. n

The vehicle may be coupled to4 the engine through the bar Z, and either the shafts shown or a bar or other suitable portable arrange- Ament may be used for the horse or horses, and

stowed away under the vehicle or elsewhere when not required.

The rail-wheels ar`el braked by the wooden pulley T2, rigidly fixed to the axle 'I and encircled by the springband V, operated by the chain V.

What I claim isl 1. Ina wheeled carriage, two sets of wheels raised and lowered therefrom, in combination with shaft E, means, substantially as set forth, for operating the saine, worm H, carried by said shaft, wheel M, into which said worm gears, and the levers Vwhich operate said wheels, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the hand-wheel, the shafts O E, and the interposed gearing F FQ Q', whereby motion is .communieatefh with the worin H, carried by shaft E, the wheel M and lever K, operated thereby, the track-wheels, capable of vertical motion, and the levers interposed between lever Kand the axles of said y wheels forraising or lowering them when the hand wheel is turned, substantially as set forth.

3'. A vehicle provided with two verticallymovable sets of wheels,'one set' for running on ordinary roads and the other set for running on rails, in combination with a series of 1evers connected to the axles, whereby all four wheels of one set are simultaneously raised while those of the other set are lowered, substantiall y as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I alix my name in the presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED DICKINSON.

Witnesses: f

LLOYD BARKER, ARTHUR MoUsLEY. 

